Falling for Her Boss

Tessa couldn’t suppress her own smile as she imagined Poppy bolting her pudding, then tearing upstairs to change into riding gear.

Morgan caught her eye, apparently interpreting her smile. “Experience,” he explained succinctly.

Poppy practically danced in her chair as she gobbled down her lunch. Tessa wondered if their outings were that rare or if she was just excited. A glance that morning at the company’s structural chart had indicated that Morgan carried the bulk of the executive load. There wasn’t a tier of vice presidents to allocate the work to. Despite having help at home, he was a single parent. One she guessed spent a great deal of time working if what she’d seen so far was any indication.

In record time, Poppy finished her lunch. “May I be excused?” she asked breathlessly, already sliding off her chair.

“Yes.”

Grabbing her stuffed dog, the child ran from the room, her shoes clattering as she crossed the entry hall and reached the staircase.

Morgan pulled out his cell phone, checked his missed calls, then sighed.

“Anything I can do to help?” Tessa questioned, now that Poppy was gone.

He shook his head. “Even if you’d been here long enough to know these people, they’re calls I have to deal with myself.”

“Don’t you have another executive who can handle some of your duties?” she questioned, hoping she wasn’t crossing a line.

“No.”

“And he should,” Dorothy chimed in, tipping the pitcher, refilling glasses.

Morgan shot the housekeeper a look that might scorch the skin off some, but she remained unperturbed. He laid his napkin on the table. “I’m going to change. Tessa, I assume you noticed that the calls are rerouted today. When I get back from the ride, we can go over the state reports.”

She nodded. “I hope you and Poppy have a good time.”

His gaze was reflective. “No need for you to worry. Poppy’s my concern.”

Tessa tried not to take offense. He was her boss, not a friend. He was right. His personal life wasn’t her concern. But she’d never worked in a situation quite like this one. An office in his home, her cottage on his property. It was a major change from working for a big corporation. Then again, everything in her life was changing. She’d never thought she would leave her hometown. Her marriage was supposed to last forever. And children...they were supposed to be part of her future. How would it be to have a lovely girl like Poppy to spend the afternoon with? One whose face lit with love when she spotted her parent?

Tessa blindly turned her attention back to her plate, not seeing what it contained, not caring. There was no hint of tears. When Karl had tossed her away, she’d cried until all her tears were gone. Instead, there was emptiness, a great cavern nothing would ever fill. It was only in the dark of night, when she should be sleeping, that the tears dampened her pillow, refusing to remain inside.

Morgan spoke quietly with Dorothy and Alvin, their voices filling in the silence Tessa isolated herself in. She had accepted that her life had changed, had embraced the finality of moving away from Karl. But in her plans for building a new life for herself, she hadn’t counted on missing one essential factor: hope in the future. Because from where she sat, that seemed unbearably bleak.

* * *

Morgan watched Poppy skip toward the house, her short legs lifting in the early-evening dusk. He had planned to keep the outing short, but Poppy had been so taken with Cornflake that they’d extended the ride. She even elicited a promise from him that he would take her to ride Cornflake every week.

Dorothy had been nagging him to spend more time with Poppy. So when she pleaded for ice cream he gave in. One delicious but messy cone later, she had insisted that she was still hungry. So, he’d caved and they ate dinner at the café. Poppy loved going out. Anywhere, anytime. His parents had catered to her, taking her with them constantly. He didn’t have that luxury. Too many employees were counting on him to keep Harper solvent, to make sure their jobs were safe.

Cutting through the side lawn, he paused, glancing ahead. Tessa walked slowly away from her cottage. He wondered where she was headed. His property line extended a good distance. His great-grandparents had purchased the property as acreage that amounted to four large city lots. One of the cottages was their original home before the big house had been built. His great-grandfather had been a pipeline gauger, then an oil lease hound, taking a small investment and making it grow. The generations that followed kept building the business. During those years, a larger house had been needed to entertain clients.

And the cottages were handy, he thought, watching Tessa through the gauzy twilight. Her hair was definitely long. No longer neatly pinned up, the dark strands tumbled past her shoulders. She had changed from her stylish suit to a long cottony-looking dress. Aquamarine, he decided, squinting in the dimming light. The color of her eyes, he remembered. Funny the details that stuck out in his memory.

Tessa turned just then as though sensing someone watching. But the low-hanging branches of a crepe myrtle camouflaged his presence. As she tipped her face up, the dying light of the day’s sun silhouetted her features. The picture solidified in his thoughts as he drew in a breath. And he suspected the image wouldn’t soon fade.

Chapter Three (#ulink_8b0c6e94-d3a7-57df-82bb-dcc631db93b0)

Days, then weeks toddled by as Tessa kept upping her learning curve. By her fourth week, she had grasped two things—the rudimentary elements of Harper Petroleum and the fact that Morgan didn’t spend enough time with his daughter. He rarely made it to family meals. And he was out of town often, meeting with his field supervisors and contractors and performing various other tasks Tessa believed he could turn over to someone else. She understood the current thinking—that middle management was an unnecessary drain on the company’s financial resources—but Morgan needed help. She hadn’t met all the office staff, but surely he employed someone either in the field or office whom he could promote, then delegate some of his work.

Dorothy let Morgan know that he needed to be home more often, but he didn’t change his behavior. Today was the first Saturday Tessa hadn’t worked. Morgan had gone to Jefferson in East Texas to check on a new pipeline installation.

Fortunately her friend Cindy Mallory had a free day. Her husband, Flynn, had taken all their kids to the skating rink. And Cindy insisted a girls’ day out was exactly what she needed.

“How are you settling in?” Cindy asked, picking up a shoe, turning it around to inspect the heel.

“Fine.”

Cindy raised one eyebrow. “How’s Morgan as a boss?”

“Fine.”

“We aren’t going to get far with this line of questioning if you stick to one-word answers.” Cindy smiled. “Spill. What do you think of the job?”

“I think I like it.”

“Think?”

“It’s different working for one man instead of a corporation and there’s the proximity to his home, the office in his house.” Tessa thought of all that was new in her life. “I like the cottage. And, in ways, it’s comforting to know there are people nearby.”

“But?”

“Not exactly a but. Just that I’m treading on a lot of undefined territory. I don’t want to offend Dorothy by not eating lunch with them. On the other hand, I don’t want Morgan to feel that I’m intruding.”

“I think the world of Morgan, but he isn’t exactly restrained when it comes to giving his opinion. He wouldn’t hesitate to let you know if you were crossing a line.”

Tessa stared at a pair of navy shoes. “Does it worry you that Morgan doesn’t spend enough time with Poppy?”

Cindy stopped in her tracks, throwing back her gleaming red hair as she spun around. “Where did that come from?”

“Just that Morgan spends all of his time working. Since I’ve been here, he’s only taken Poppy out once even though he promised he’d take her to ride her horse every week.”

Frowning, Cindy paused. “Morgan adores her.”

“Oh, I can see that. And it’s mutual. But, not having a mother, it seems that Poppy needs extra parent time, not less.” Tessa replaced the navy shoe without having really looked at it. “I know I don’t have kids, so it’s not as though I’m an expert.”

“That’s not what I’m questioning.” Cindy looked perplexed. “Just that Morgan’s devoted to Poppy.”

“I think so, too, but that doesn’t stop her from being lonely. The poor kid even hangs around me when I’m working. Dorothy and Alvin give her all the attention they can, but they’re busy taking care of the house and grounds.”

Cindy cleared her throat. “Does it...bother you? Having Poppy around, I mean.”

“Just because I can’t have one of my own doesn’t mean I’ve gone off children. I’m just worried that she’s getting the short end of the stick.” Tessa rubbed her forehead. “This really isn’t any of my business. Morgan’s my employer, not a friend.”

“There’s nothing wrong with caring,” Cindy reminded her gently, her calm voice belying the crop of flame-colored hair that framed her face.

“If I had a daughter like Poppy...” Tessa shook her head. “Do you think I’m being judgmental because I’m jealous?”